Interesting, because nobody left in support of Desert Shield/Desert Storm until Summer 1990. I deployed in August out of RAF Lakenheath in an F-111F. Iraq invaded Kuwait on 2 August 1990. We deployed loaded with all the precision guided munitions we could carry because there were none in Saudi Arabia at that time.
Terry, you're absolutely correct and I should have known better, having deployed with the 58th Fighter Squadron during the first week of September, 1990. The "1989" is from the photo's file name, as per the Defense Media Network's webpage (link above). 1989_F117Nighthawk_01
That can't be Langley Field. No B-24's, B-25's, or B-17's. And I can't see the dirigible hangar. I have been trying to figure out what direction one is looking at and it appears that the view is looking south towards the back water and Newport News but what is being called a taxiway looks like the north-south runway (can't remember headings). Man. It sure looks different than it was in '44,'45. Are there aerial shots of Langley now?
Bob, I'm with you regarding your first statement. But I went with how it was reported on the website. However, the geography doesn't correlate to how I remember LAFB from the early '80s. So I looked it up on Google maps and that doesn't jive either. The runway and taxiways don't line up... It's gotta be someplace else.
Wade- The F-117 was initially made public in November 1988 and the 4450th was absorbed into the 37 TFW in 1989, so this photo was likely taken at their first operational location before they deployed to Saudi Arabia in 1990 and moved to Holloman AFB in 1992. The high angle of the photos gave away as few details as possible about their original base.
Wade, after closely examining the satellite photos of Langley I must reverse my original thoughts and conclude that it must be Langley in that high angle photo. What I correctly remembered as the north-south runway has been closed and turned into a taxiway and parking. In the lower left side of the sat photo there appears to be a tower-like structure to the west of the taxiway. In the F-117 photo one can see a tower to the right (west) of the taxiway. So, I believe that the viewer is looking south at the Back River with the bridge to the left. When I was there it was a teeming mass of people, airplanes, and many temporary building that are now gone. However, the hangars are still there and believe it or not, my barrack is still there on what is now Andrews St. The rest of the base has been stripped clean and looks like a park. The ramp then was full of B-17's and B-24's being used to train "Mickey" operators for low and high level precision radar bombing. The roar of engines was continuous day and night and there was always something taking off or landing.
Bob- Now that I look at the photo, you are correct. No grass in their original operational location. The inflights were probably a part of a show the flag demo of the F-117 and the LAFB shots came during the same deployment. Wonder if Clay Lacy took those shots? He took some shots of our 431st TES F-111s in the mid-80s. Part of putting the finishing touches on the Soviet Union since they could not combat stealth and StarWars.
I see it now, yes, the photos are facing south at LAFB, as is the image below. . Image Unavailable, Please Login
The reddish building just below the word "St." after Andrews is my old Sqd A barrack. The dark patch below that is where the NACA labs were right at the end of the main runway. Taz and Wade, thanks for the photo and inputs. A lot of memories there from 70 years ago.
Personally, it's one of the most beautiful things ever created. Probably the result of the Roswell incident too
Anybody who thinks the Cockroach is beautiful definitely has different tastes. Sinister, yes. Purposeful, yes. Beautiful, not to me.
When I was there during the early 80's those were TAC HQ office buildings. From Bing maps: Bing Maps - Driving Directions, Traffic and Road Conditions . Image Unavailable, Please Login
Speaking of the Langley wind tunnel, this is an excellent book on the topic: Radical Wings & Wind Tunnels: Advanced Concepts Tested at Nasa Langley: Joseph R. Chambers, Mark A. Chambers: 9781580071161: Amazon.com: Books
"New reports of F-117s flying over the Nellis ranges this week. Love it!" https://twitter.com/jamie_aviacom/status/517670971881558017 https://twitter.com/TheAviationist
Problem is the computers are Old tech. It's not the latest and greatest. More like 1980s computer tech.
Updating is relatively easy. When the F-111D and F started flying in the early 70s, we had a digital computer complex with two cooled boxes about 2'x1'x1' that had one 16K computer each. By the time they retired, there was one box with a whole lot of empty space and one small card replacing all the 1960s' digital technology, with several orders of magnitude more capability.